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Weekly media column version 07.13.12

(AP Photo/Matt Rourke)An excerpt from the Freeh Group’s report is shown in Philadelphia on Thursday, which determined that Penn State coach Joe Paterno and other senior officials “concealed critical facts relating to (Jerry) Sandusky’s child abuse.”

What’s included in this week’s sports media column (linked here): Dribble, drabble and donut holes about things in how we measure a sporting event’s lack of success, why the Freeh report seems to generate such emotional reaction and where to go for the best Stanley Cup travel photos.

What isn’t included:

== Heather Cox will be the new sideline reporter for ESPN’s Saturday prime-time college football game, according to a really big source at the BigLead.com.
Not so fast, my friend.
Our source – Cox herself – says there’s hardly a guarantee she’ll even be at the network this fall. ESPN also said it was far too premature to say she’s Erin Andrews’ replacement in that role.
Cox told us from her home in Boise, Idaho, on Thursday that her contract is up at the end of August and she’s also in talks with others networks and has a decision to make soon. She’s been at ESPN for 18 years.
Cox heads for London to work on the beach volleyball sidelines again for NBC’s Olympic coverage. She’ll be the tall one with the red hair who isn’t Scottish, Irish or confused.

== The Washington Post’s Sally Jenkins, who did the last interview with Joe Paterno, has the honors of being the first recognized for a reactionary column to the Freeh report (linked here), where she in essence writes: “Paterno was no more interested in the full truth than Walt Disney … Paterno was no more interested in the full truth than Walt Disney, The only explanation I can find for this ‘striking lack of empathy’ is self-absorption.”

Jon SooHoo/L.A. DodgersVin Scully, second from right, sings during the seventh-inning stretch during the Dodgers’ visit to Arizona before the All-Star break last week. Telecast director Boyd Robertson is to Scully’s right.

== The L.A. Times’ Patt Morrison should have known better than to do a Q-and-A with Vin Scully (linked here) — “Oh, that voice!” — and not expect a crush of reader response (linked here).

The most interesting thing about Scully we didn’t really know about from that interview:

Morrison question: You’re not on the road with the team anymore. Was it hard to make that break?
Scully answer: In the beginning it was a strange feeling to watch the bus pull away. But at this stage of my life, realistically, I treasure the time that I’m off as well as the time that I’m doing the game.
(Nice of Vin not to correct her on her misinformative question).

== Heck, someone named Hugh Hewitt from something called the Washington Examiner (no relation to Huell Howser) did a thorough Q-and-A with Scully that ran last week (linked here), and he’s still gushing about it (linked here). He should be.

== The Boston Red Sox’s Single-A minor-league affiliate, the Lowell Spinners, gave out a slimmed down Peter King bobblehead on Thursday — and the Sports Illustrated “Monday Morning Quarterback” was there to sign them. SI.com did a series of non-athletes who’ve been given bobbleheads — including the Chick Hearn bobblehead that once sold years ago at the now-defunct Just Sports store, but completely overlooking out the Lancaster JetHawks’ tribute to Antelope Valley Press columnist Brian Golden bobblehead giveaway years ago (linked here).

In 2003, the Spinners issued a Jack Kerouac bobblehead to honor its most famous citizen — a statue that eventually found its way into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. The team plans a second Kerouac bobblehead on Aug. 7 — one that will have a bobble head as well as a bobble arm, depicting the author hitchhiking for one of his “On The Road” adventures. Only 1,000 will be available free.

== Are golf fans impatient for Tiger Woods to win another major?
Less than a week before the British Open starts, ESPN’s Curtis Strange offered this not-real-strange take on the subject when asked Thursday in a conference call: “I’m not so sure the public is waiting for Tiger to win a major as (much as) the media is. I know they have questions on, ‘Is he back?’ That’s the catch phrase of the day. I think as far as the players, they watch him play. The comments are just spectacular, stunning on how complimentary they are on how he’s playing. He’s only the threetime winner on Tour this year. He’s leading the money list, I think. He’s playing pretty damned good. … I expect him to do well, I really do. I think he can get away with some driving the ball erratically over there more so than in the U.S. Open Championship, and I think he can iron it, and his imagination and short game is still very sharp.”

== One of the few humorous lines to come from the ESPY Awards ceremony on Wednesday came from the deadpan line delivered by the Kings’ Dustin Brown. Appearing a half-hour in the show to remind fans they can vote live, via Twitter and ESPN.com, for the “Best Team” award, he added: “And when you do, keep in mind the Kings beat the Devils (for the Stanley Cup). The Devils. We saved the world. Vote for us.” The Kings lost that category, to the Miami Heat, but did win “Best Upset” instead, with Jonathan Quick voted as the “Best NHL Player.”

Hugh Hewitt is a nationally-syndicated radio talk show host who is also a law professor at Chapman Law School. His sports tastes are awful. Cleveland Browns. Cleveland Indians. The Ohio State (Losers) Buckeyes.

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